Art, artists, readers, writers, books
The first Friday of every month in Wilmington the Art Loop takes place. Vans are laid on by the city to take interested viewers from one studio or museum to another, so artists can get recognition and validation for their work. There are wine and snacks, and a festive air prevails. I usually go, and it's a lot of fun.
The work varies greatly in quality. Some of the works are for sale. Some are purchased that very night, and for not inconsiderable sums. Would I, could I, buy any of these paintings? Not at those prices. I couldn't because I'd rather spend the money on a new car, or buy more paints and a new easel. You see, the art that interests me most is my own. I like to see how others do things, but I am more interested in learning how to paint myself.
I think writers are like that, too. I've known published poets who never read a line of any other poet's, none of whose works would be published if government and foundations did not subsidize their publication. I'm okay with that.
Most people who enjoy literature have a hidden or not so hidden desire to write themselves. Almost everyone has a novel in a drawer somewhere or in the attic. Not me. I sincerely do not want to write anything, unless you count this blog. What I want to do is read. And what I want to read is books.
I've already mentioned that I don't want a Kindle. I like books. If it looks good to me, I will read any book with joy. Unless it is moldy, which sets off my asthma. Nice-looking books on good paper with beautiful bindings interest me, but so do paperbacks from the 1940s found in dusty book stores or at the Good Will. Library books. I know I like certain authors, but I love discovering new ones. I like reading about things I am ignorant about and learning new stuff, if well presented..
I don't really know what I want to read until I see it. So I will continue to prowl through Barnes & Noble and look through piles of yesterday's best sellers at garage sales. Some of my finds will be duds, of course, but I've discovered a lot of good reading and have hopes of finding more.
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1 comment:
We homeschool - so I have to get my children's curriculum together every year.
I absolutely ADORE the day what I've chosen comes in the mail. I use literature to teach history, and going through the books thrusts me back into my own childhood and good memories. Johnny Tremain is a real favorite, as is Where the Red Fern Grows, Hemmingway, and A Little Princess.
Sometimes I don't remember that I read the book as a child until the kids and I are halfway through the book. That happened with Ginger Pye and Homer Price.
And it's wonderful to see the kids respond the way I did when I read them. We finished reading The Secret Garden, and my third daughter immediately took it and started to read it on her own. They do "sound" different on our own rather than when read aloud, don't they?
This year my 12 year old discovered To Kill a Mockingbird.
Books are wonderful.
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